With November almost here, the College Football Playoff committee convened to release their first rankings of the 2017 season. Virginia Tech was expected to be ranked among the top 13 teams in the country after being ranked 13th in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
Today, the playoff committee released their first rankings that looked very similar to the other polls.
https://twitter.com/CFBPlayoff/status/925499304495714306
Virginia Tech was ranked 13th in the first College Football Playoff rankings. The Hokies are the lowest-ranked power 5 team with one loss in these rankings. However, the Hokies have a great chance to jump in the rankings against tenth-ranked Miami.
13th is the highest that the Hokies have been in these rankings since they started during the 2014 season. This is also tied for the highest that a Justin Fuente-led team has been in the rankings with Memphis also ranking 13th in the first CFB Playoff rankings of 2015.
While 13 does seem reasonable for the Hokies, there is also a case that the Hokies should be ahead of Oklahoma State (#11) and Washington (#12) as tweeted by ESPN's David Hale.
https://twitter.com/DavidHaleESPN/status/925500334507565056
No matter the rankings, Virginia Tech has a great opportunity this week against Miami to gain their best win of the season. If they do beat Miami, you can expect VT to be ranked in the top 10 next week with a signature win to boost them ahead of Washington and the loser of Oklahoma-Oklahoma State.
For Hokie fans who have playoff dreams, the 13th ranking shouldn't discourage them. We've seen twice teams ranked lower than where VT is at in the initial rankings make the playoffs. With Miami and a potential ACC Championship appearance left, the Hokies have a great chance to add two great wins to their resume. However, they have no margin for error at this point.
Here are the full College Football Playoff rankings:
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Notre Dame
- Clemson
- Oklahoma
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- TCU
- Wisconsin
- Miami
- Oklahoma State
- Washington
- Virginia Tech
- Auburn
- Iowa State
- Mississippi State
- USC
- UCF
- LSU
- NC State
- Stanford
- Arizona
- Memphis
- Michigan State
- Washington State
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